Earthquake-proof building.



No. 845,046. BATENTED FEB. 26, 1907. J. BEGHTOLD.

EARTHQUAKE PROOF BUILDEING. APPLICATION FILED MAY 26 906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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110, 845046. PATENTED FEB. 26, 1907.

J. BEO'HTOLD. EARTHQUAKE PROOF BUILDING.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1906' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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JACOB BECHTOLD, OF MUNICH, GERMANY.

EARTHQUAKE-PROOF BUILDING.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 26,1906. SerialNo. 318.945.

Patented Feb. 26, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, JAooB BECHTOLD, a citizen of Bavaria, Germany,residing at Munich, Bavaria, Germany, have invented certain new anduseful Improve rents in Earthquake-Proof Buildings; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description oftheinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates" to earthquake-proof buildings, andconsists of the details of construction hereinafter set forth, and

particularly pointed out in the claiars.

In order to render the present specification easily intelligible,reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which sin't-ilarletters of reference denote similar parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a sectional elevation. of one form of embodying the presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view taken above one of thefloors. Fig. 3 is a part plan of some of the ironwork of the building.Figs. 4 and 5 are cross-sections showing the arrangement of the ironcross-bars, and Fig. 6 is a section showing the combination of vertiealand horizontal stays.

In the case of earthquakes the danger accrues from the rigid foundationsof the buildings, and it will be best avoided by standing the wholeedifice on a rigid base-plate of suitable carrying power, whichbase-plate is not in rigid connection with the surface of the earth.

, In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings the house is built on the rigid base-plate a, which is mountedon'loose pebble-gravel or on balls of hard material-such as granite,gneiss, ba-.

salt, or the likethe said round pebbles or balls being of about twentyto twenty-five centimeters diameter and indicated at c. This material isplaced in an excavation b, which is advantageously about fourmetersdeep, and thus form s a mass of relatively rr ovable units arranged in aheap as distinguished from a single horizontal layer of bodies. Anearthquake will have a moving effect on this mass, and the weight of theedifice on the base late will always have the effect of keeping t ewhole in a horizontal position, the tendency of the building being tocompensate the movementof any 'part of the balls due to an upheaval atany point at the bet cloth, which would represent the crust of the earthin an upheaval. It will be found that the balls will retain an evenupper horizontal surface, or practically so, if the cloth bottom ispushed up at any points. phi-tea were mounted directly on the solidearth, it would probably break on an upheaval at one point, and thehouse would fall down; On the laycrs of balls the weight of the buildingwill always compensate an upheaval at any point below the bottom. Evenif the crust of the earth cracks, as is often the case, it will notnecessarily destroy the building, because the balls will enter and fillup the crack, and the building will merely sink and can subse uentlyberaised.

The bui ding must of course stand entirely free from other buildings atall sides. The building itself should be made without joints, as withbrickwork, and should consist advan, tageously of concrete and ironwork.In the base-plate a and the various floors (1 grids e, consisting ofiron rods f, are provided, the said rods crossing each other, as at g,Figs. 3, 4, and 5. The ends of the said rods may extend outside thewallsand be bent round, as at It, Fig. 1. Vertical rods '5 are providedin the vertical walls, and-the rods of the grids may be bent round toform hooks, as at k, and thus to embrace the vertical stays, as will bereadily und erstood. The fram ework is all filled out with concrete,built up by uninterruptedly adding about fifteen-centimeter layers, thelower layer being in a condition to bind well when the next layer aboveit is lastered on. By this rreans an extremely stable building will beattained.

I claizn as my lIlVGIltlOIl-z 1. An earthquake-proof building consistingof a rigid base-plate to carry the building and a mass of sphericalbodies of hard mate rial, to carry the said base-plate freely.

2. An earthquake-proof building consisting of a rigidbase-plate, abuilding thereon an excavation below the said plate and a mass of hardspherical bodies in said excavation on which the said base-plate freelyrests.

3. An earthquake-proofbuilding, consisting of a rigid base-plate, abuilding made of If the base- ITO a plurality of layers of hardspherical bodies inserted between the said base-plate and the supportingground substantially as described.

4. An earthquake-proof building, consisting of a rigid base-plate tocarry the edifice and a mass of s herical bodies of hard materialcontained etween the said base-plate and the supporting-ground.

5-. An earthquake-proof building, consisting of an edifice made ofconcrete walls and floors and having ironwork grids in the floors andvertical stays connected to the ends of the members forming the grids,-in' the walls, I 5 a rigid baseplate to support the building and a massof hard s herlcal bodies inserted between the lower si e of the saidbase-plate and the supporting-ground.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my 20 signature in the presenceoftwo witnesses.

JACOB BECHTOLD.

